Liquor licenses up for grabs in Danvers

Thursday

Aug 14, 2014 at 10:31 AMAug 14, 2014 at 10:41 AM

By Jeff Popejpope@wickedlocal.comThe town will offer three liquor licenses to worthy applicants during the selectmen’s two meetings in September.The town will be advertising for applicants in the coming weeks.One unrestricted license, formerly held by Brutole restaurant at 65 Newbury St., will be offered at the Sept. 2 meeting.That restaurant closed earlier this year without renewing its license for 2014. The restaurant also owned the town about $12,000 in utility cost at the time of the closing.The selectmen voted to revoke the Brutole license in June."I reported to you at your last meeting that Brutole did not appeal the revocation of their license," said Town Manager Wayne Marquis. "So we have that license."Marquis told the board on Tuesday, Aug. 5, that the owners had squared their utility bill with the town since the Board of Selectmen had last met.Two other liquor licenses will be offered to applicants at the selectmen’s Sept. 23 meeting. Those licenses will be considered restricted, because the applicant must use the license for three years before it can be transferred to another party and if it is transferred, the license is only good for the original location.These are two of the six new liquor licenses that the town was awarded by the legislature.The special Town Meeting in February had approved a petition to the state for the additional licenses. The legislation, which also included a request from Peabody for 10 more licenses, was approved earlier this summer. Marquis had praised the efforts of state Rep. Ted Speliotis and state Sen. Joan Lovely in getting the new licenses approved.The selectmen decided to release only two of the six licenses at this time."As far as the six licenses go, I, maybe, would be willing to release two of them," said Selectman Diane Langlais. "I would like to hold back at least four and not just until October, I’m talking until we work with the Planning Board and find out what their timetable is."The Planning Board is working on a mixed-use overlay zone for the downtown area similar to the one approved for the area near McKinnon’s Market at this year’s annual Town Meeting in May.Selectman Gardner Trask agreed that the town should hold back some of the licenses, however he suggested that only one be released now."When I look at these six, my personal feeling is, I don’t think we should be releasing these and put all six out," said Trask. "That would get us back in a spot where we have no more (licenses) again."Trask also urged that the new licenses be awarded to businesses coming to Danvers."I look at these as a pool of licenses for the opportunity to provide to new businesses coming to town," said Trask, who noted the difficulty that Turner Seafoods encountered when it tried to open a restaurant next to Hollywood Hits on Hutchinson Drive. No licenses were available and the restaurant owners eventually settled on a location in Salem.Selectman Dan Bennett felt that more of the licenses should be made available now."I agree somewhat with the plan to hold some back, but to wait for the Planning Board to go to Town Meeting, that takes some time," said Bennett. "And as the licensing authority it is our authority to act on these licenses to applicants that are worthy of a license.He said he was in favor of releasing three now."I could support offering three licenses," said Bennett. "That doesn’t mean we need to give out those licenses if the applicant before us doesn’t have a sound business plan."Town Clerk Joe Collins assured the selectmen that there will be plenty of applicants for the licenses."We have had numerous calls, the number I can’t put a thumb on right know," said Collins. "They have been waiting for the board to discuss this issue tonight. I would expect applications forthwith by the interested parties."The selectmen approved releasing two of the six new licenses on a 4-1 vote with Bennett opposed.Tedesco license settledThe selectmen also voted to transfer Steven Tedesco’s liquor license to the new owners of the Osborn Tavern at 49 Maple St.The transfer settled a controversy over the license, which Tedesco has owned for three years, yet never made use of.The new owners of the former Maple Street Tavern include Spero Demakes, the owner of Matty’s Food and Spirits on 194 Endicott St., as well as Wardhurst in Peabody and Dailey’s Pub in Middleton. Joel Hartnett will serve as manager of Osborn Tavern.The former owners of the tavern had a change in management rejected by the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission in June.Attorney James Cote, who was representing the new owners, explained that the new owners originally planned to take the beer and wine license held by the old owner, Dean Borders."Then we were told that Mr. Tedesco has available a full liquor license," said Cote. "So we are seeking transfer of that license to this location."Selectmen Chairman Bill Clark Jr. said he was pleased with the transfers."I have good feeling on two reasons for this," said Clark. "One is that we are going to get that Tedesco liquor license back in action. And that will be beneficial to the community. And secondly, the partner in this Osborn Tavern are certainly well-respected in the community. They have a great history as a business leader in the town. I wish them a lot of good luck in this."Tedesco had originally planned to open a restaurant at 100 Newbury St. But a series of problems forced Tedesco to request a couple of extensions that the selectmen reluctantly agreed to. Finally, Tedesco attempted to sell the license to a group looking to open a restaurant on Andover Street, only to have that fall through.Tedesco and his lawyer attended the Aug. 5 meeting as there was a hearing on the agenda on whether his license should be "suspended, revoked, or limited in any way," immediately after the Osborn Tavern item.But after the transfer was approved, the Tedesco agenda item was moot and the selectmen voted to take no action on it.However the selectmen did approve a motion to hold a hearing at their Sept. 2 meeting concerning Borders’ license, which is now not in use.But Attorney Cote told the board that he expected that Borders would be seeking to transfer to "another restaurant in the downtown area for that beer and wine license."